Press Releases

The most popular leader amongst women working in technology is Margaret Thatcher, followed closely by Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela, according to research carried out at womenintechnology.co.uk’s recent event “Do you need to be a manager to be a leader?”

The women questioned at the event cited her strength as the reason for their choice. Comments included: “she had the ability to lead from the front and make the tough decisions that aren’t always the popular ones”. Another respondent explained that she was a role model for women, “she believed in herself and through her example made women believe in themselves and respect other women’s ability to lead. Before her we were still struggling for equal pay and people forget this – in countries where they do not have such a woman as a role model leader they are still fighting these ideological battles today”.

When asked which qualities they disliked most in a leader or manager, there were a wide range of responses, however arrogance, self-absorption and micro management were the most common answers. The most admirable qualities included honesty, approachability, motivation and leading by example.

“This research shows that women do appreciate having strong female role models to inspire them” says Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk. “It’s great to see that many of the women at the event realised that they could be inspirational leaders without necessarily having to be a manager. Developing more female leaders is something that would really help women make their mark on the technology workforce and hopefully womenintechnology.co.uk is helping to do this.”


Calling all female technologists!
The Banking Technology Awards 2008, to be held in November at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, are now open for nominations. womenintechnology.co.uk, the job board and networking portal, is once again sponsoring the award for Outstanding Contribution by a Female in Financial Technology, and is encouraging worthy winners to enter.

If you feel that you or any other female technologists in the financial services sector have made a significant contribution - within any business area and across any asset class – then get nominating! It is an ideal way to recognise the great achievements of the talented and valuable women in this sector.

Last year, India Gary took the award for her strong leadership, championing of diversity and contribution as a role model and mentor. “This is a unique award within the banking community and celebrates the ever increasing role of female technologists, programme/project managers and strategic implementers of change” says Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk. “For the last two years, we have had the biggest number of category nominations, ensuring we get the biggest cheer of the night during the actual award ceremony, and we’d like to continue this trend!”

All entries must be received by 11th July 2008. For more information, including details on the nomination process, please visit http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/banking-technology 

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Less than half of women in IT are confident about future success

41% of women working in IT do not feel confident about their future success, according to new research by online job board and networking portal womenintechnology.co.uk.

Attendees of womenintechnology.co.uk’s recent event, “How to get ahead in IT”, gave a variety of reasons for this lack of confidence, however motherhood was an issue that many women thought could damage their success in the years to come. One respondent commented “Sometimes [I am confident] but I doubt my own abilities and believe that employers won’t want to employ a mum of two”. Another said “I am taking time off to have a baby and not sure how this will affect me getting contracts in the future”. Others had difficulties in knowing how to progress in their careers - as one woman put it, “I’m not sure what the next step is and whether I can move into middle management.”

The research also showed that 65% did not have a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve in their IT career with some respondents choosing to be open to new prospects and others lacking the knowledge in how to progress. “I know where I would like to be but I’m not sure how to get there” commented one woman, while another said “I am flexible depending on the opportunities that come up!”

“The majority of the women believed they were the driver of their own success with many updating their CV regularly on LinkedIn and speaking with management so that others are aware of their achievements. However many cited difficulties in marketing themselves in this way” says Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk. “This event aimed to give women some useful advice on successful career strategies. Hopefully those that attended are now more confident in their ability to progress their careers in the IT industry.”


‘Work/life balance is a struggle’ say female technologists

Recent research of over 200 women by womenintechnology.co.uk, the online job board and networking group has revealed that the majority of women working in IT are dissatisfied with their work/life balance and that although employers say they support flexible working, the reality is often quite different.

The research, carried out at the “Working Smarter, Not Harder”, networking event recently hosted by womenintechnology.co.uk and Microsoft, showed that although over half (55%) felt that they did have a work / life balance, almost all added an “although” or a “but” to their answer.

“It’s a tough juggling act” said one respondent. “I have struggled with it throughout my career. It’s definitely something you have to make happen rather than expect other people to provide.” Other respondents commented on how much work/life balance can differ from job to job, “I fear every time I change jobs about whether the company is going to put work/life balance on their agenda” said one woman.

77% said that their current organisation does support flexible working, but many added that this was very limited and that although flexible working was supported in theory, the reality is that it is not practiced. Others commented that flexible working hours are frowned upon by colleagues and that managers’ discretion is an important factor. One respondent explained “yes my organisation does support flexible working; however my understanding is that in reality, not all managers allow their respective teams to participate.”

Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk says that this widespread dissatisfaction with work/life balance was what the event aimed to address: “Our key note speaker was Dr Suzanne Doyle-Morris who talked about what makes successful people work smarter and not harder in order to achieve a work life balance that is unique and completely right for them. The number of women working in IT is dwindling and work/life balance is often cited as a key reason for this” she explains. “Hopefully the event taught the women present how they can work ‘smarter, not harder’ and find a way of achieving that work/life balance that we all strive for.”

Details of the event can be found at http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/previous-events

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Women in IT keen to develop political ‘savvy’

77% of women working in IT do not feel they have sufficient skills to manage in a political context within the workplace. This figure comes from a recent “Political Savvy for Women in IT” event held by online job board and networking portal www.womenintechnology.co.uk in association with Société Générale.

The main skills that women wanted to develop were their confidence in both handling and identifying office politics. “I tend to ignore politics and avoid it in the office”, said one attendee while another commented “I want to gain the ability to analyse and understand the political environment”. “Knowing the difference between gossip and politics” and “managing the egos of others in a testosterone fuelled workplace” were also on women’s wish lists.

The research also highlighted how office politics had affected many women in their jobs with 53% of attendees saying that they had been the victim of labelling, stereotyping or sabotage at work. When asked how they had responded in a politically savvy way to a situation, many answered that they simply had not; they had changed their job or had taken legal action.

“I kept my job and hoped someone would notice that I was different and I started labelling and sabotaging the person myself. Neither worked” said one respondent while another commented “We do what women always do – overperform - outdo the critics but this is energy sapping and not always productive“

Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk, said, “This political savvy event was a great success and provided many women with practical tips for dealing with office politics and answered many of their questions. All our events aim to empower women who are working in a male dominated industry and hopefully the attendees felt this was another step forward in us doing that.”


Work Smarter, Not Harder!
On Tuesday 1st April, womenintechnology.co.uk is hosting the “Working Smarter, Not Harder” event in association with Microsoft at 6.30pm in London. The event will aim to help women to improve their work life balance and avoid the stress and difficulties that can arise from trying to juggle work, rest and play as a female professional in the demanding sector of IT.

Dr Suzanne Doyle-Morris, professional speaker, trainer and accredited coach will offer tips around our perceptions of our ability to prioritise, to delegate and to recognise what we are already doing right, to make the goal of an attractive work life balance an achievable one. As well as this there will be presentations from Microsoft, a Q&A session and networking over drinks afterwards.

This is a free event, which promises to deliver some valuable advice and useful information. Please visit http://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/previous-events for further details and to reserve your place.

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HR rates poorly in supporting women in IT sector
A survey of women in IT has found that HR departments are less supportive to women than line managers and colleagues.

The survey, carried out last year by Microsoft and online career and networking portal womenintechnology.co.uk, found that when asked to rate the support they received as a female employee, respondents saw HR departments as the least supportive area with only 39% rating them as good or excellent. This compares poorly with other groups such as line management (47%); direct boss (57%); colleagues (60%) and juniors (51%).

Over a quarter of respondents ( 28%) rated HR departments less than ‘ok’ as opposed to 19% for line managers and bosses; 11% for colleagues and 17% for juniors.

Traditionally, HR departments have been instrumental in devising and implementing quality retention initiatives but according to the survey, it seems that resources have not always been spread equally:

“A lot of effort goes into training graduates, none into refreshing women returners skills” said one respondent” while another commented: “Although my company supplied a basketball court, they didn’t supply a crèche. When the issue was raised at a company meeting, it was not well received.”

While childcare is obviously an issue, the responses showed no significant deviation attributable to caring responsibilities.

Commenting on the results, Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk said: “It’s all very well for HR departments to have diversity policies in place but this has to be more than just ticking boxes. Almost two thirds of respondents to our survey claimed that the content of a prospective employer's diversity policy would be an ‘important factor’ in their decision whether to join.”

However, Berry is keen to point out that women don’t want special treatment – far from it. “Obviously all parents should have access to flexible working and other benefits, but what came out of some of the comments in our survey was that there is a perception that women who take advantage of these policies or benefits would be seen as ‘weak’. Consequently HR departments need to adopt a universal approach and encourage more male uptake which would avoid damaging women’s’ ‘brand’ within an organisation.”

Q: Please rate the support you received as a woman employee from the

following groups of people in your current (or last) job:

Sample: 1,147

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womenintechnology.co.uk launches graduate service

The online job board and networking service for females in the IT industry, www.womenintechnology.co.uk, has just launched a page on its website dedicated to graduates. With women making up less than 20% of the technology workforce, womenintechnology.co.uk hopes that this will encourage more female talent to enter the IT profession.

Launched in March 2005, womenintechnology.co.uk has a growing network of nearly 3000 people and works with a number of major blue chip firms. The new graduate section offers information on careers in IT and allows users to search and apply for a wide range of graduate schemes online. It also provides information on events such as recruitment fairs and networking, as well as graduate and IT news. Graduates can also access handy advice on topics such as CV writing, job applications and interviews.

“This is an exciting development for womenintechnology.co.uk” says Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk. “The graduate page will hopefully give students and graduates an insight into the technology careers that are available to them and how they can secure their ideal position. We hope this will go some way towards highlighting just how rewarding a career in IT can be for women (as well as men)!”

Women in IT - Don't try and be one of the boys!

“Work in a way that suits your style rather than trying to be one of the boys”

“Think like a man.  Don’t take anything personally – start the day without emotions”

“Don’t harp on about being a woman; consider and treat yourself as an equal as differentiating yourself can have a negative effect.”

You could be forgiven for thinking that these comments may have come from male IT executives.  In fact, these were points made by women, about women, at the recent “Aiming for the top – how to be a successful woman in IT “event hosted by career and networking portal womenintechnology.co.uk in conjunction with investment bank JP Morgan.

The event looked at women already achieving success in technology – and the key issues that need to be considered when looking to take your career to the next level - and included a lively Q&A session with senior JP Morgan executives.

While predictably many of the audience’s comments emphasised the importance of networking and access to mentors and role models, some women felt that it was important to leave gender out of the equation and get on with just being great at the job:

“Male programmers may feel threatened by a woman as smart as them at first but will quickly see you as ‘one of the boys’ if you are competent”, commented one attendee.  While another felt that it was important to have real confidence in your own ability: “Don’t see being female as a barrier to achieving success – it’s all down to knowledge skills and experience combined with networking.”

However there was a note of caution from one attendee:  “I’ve generally ignored the fact that I’m a woman and focussed on getting on with my job.  As I’ve become more senior and have roles where personality seems to be a major component in success, this strategy is less successful”

“With women making up only 20% of the UK technology workforce but accounting for 50% of the UK working population it’s obvious that the technology profession is missing out on a wealth of female talent” says Maggie Berry, Director of womenintechnology.co.uk.  While organisations obviously want to recruit the best employees regardless of gender, figures show that there are more women leaving the IT profession than joining it – IT departments need to therefore consider all the options for holding onto their female staff.  Hopefully these networking events will go some way to promoting the IT industry as an employer of choice for women.”

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